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Posts posted by neerajd

It absolutely makes sense to get this car here. But MSIL should price it sensibly.

The Vitara will be a sensible product now if offered between 11-17 lacs OTR.

If they try to portray this as a premium offering beyond the Creta, this is going to be a stillborn product.

I wish they still bring back the Kizashi as a premium offering yet again. The earlier Vitara was also a very competitive offering but the time was not ripe for a product of that class. The SX4 was the car that was able to break the barriers of the Indian audience accepting a 10 lac Maruti and the Ciaz did it well too.

I agree, Sachtech. Dashcams have become a need more than a fancy gadget to make road trip movies later. They help in event of an accident, altercation with traffic police or even during the overnight parking.

For me, the must have accessories on the car include the following in no particular order:

Reverse assist - I prefer the audio audio aid rather than the camera. Camera tends to get dirty/scratchy and you have to change your rear view mirror too to a HUGE one/ungainly design.

Floor Lamination - I got this done to help keep the interiors clean. It is easy to clean and also makes it spill-proof if you have a kid.

Good quality leatherette seat covers (if your car comes with fabric seats) - not the typical cushion covers types. These are snug fit to the seat contours and last the life of the vehicle. Come a bit expensive.. but totally worth it.

Good speakers - not everyone is an audiophile. But sometimes, the music system you get is crap. May want to look at changing speakers. We feel it does not matter at first, but listening to good music on long drives or even on office commutes is so relaxing.

Add better coaxial and component speakers if not amplifiers and bass tubes. And they don't cost a bomb either. 5-6k should get you decent components from JBL/Sony/Pioneers/Rock etc.

Good 3D floor mats - seems like an expense, but they help keep the interiors very clean. The tray type design also help keep the dust/mud/pebbles in place while you pull it out for a wash.

Scuff Plates & 3M PPF wraps around the scuff areas - it does help have a scuff plate to avoid the heel brushes while getting in an out. A white/silver color won't show that much but a darker color would.

Better Lights - In this age where LEDs and HIDs have gone cheap, our car manufacturers still provide us halogens. While it might be okay for occasional night driving, better lighting helps reduce stress when driving in the night. Switch to the Philips Xtreme vision or the Osram Nightbreakers at least. It makes whole lot of a difference.

You may have noticed, none of the above accessories add a bling to your car. But these are more towards your safety and your car's safety. The speakers are to keep us entertained in our journey

Used it for 8 full years and had to change the 100/90 Philips bulbs only once in those 8 years. But, I had a problem with the relay once and had to change that due to a stupid car wash guy who blasted the engine bay with a spray. It might have shorted something.

But, my experience using Rally spec bulbs was satisfactory. With average night usage, the reflectors were showing signs of burning out.

For one, I hope at least one manufacturer stays away from the sub-4 meter SUV segment.

Jeep is a heritage line-up and the design and length should not be altered for any India specific law.

Hyundai was doing a good job so far keeping out but seems the money that manufacturers make by selling a sub-4 meter car in India far outclasses the profits made on higher segments, partly because of the numbers it sells too.

The Renegade should come in the same size and engine options sold internationally.

Anything apart from the Renegade and Compass is far too pricey. It just gets into the elite 3 and Volvo category.

Now you only have compact sedans (which I personally don't like) or you have C2 segment sedans

I totally stand by it. The sub-4 meter sedans are all pretentious (wannabe) 3 box cars. Their B2 segment counterparts are far more superior to them. Case in point Xcent to i20, Amaze to Jazz.

The Dzire outclasses the Baleno in almost all aspects. But I still do not give in to the sub-4 meter sedan here.

My only next upgrade would have been the Jetta/Octavia or given that I do end up scraping the car with a load full, a crossover or maybe the Jeep Compass kind of a vehicle. I'll still stick to a 5 seater.

The Japanese/Koreans are no match to the solid builds and ageless designs. The Jetta still does not feel outdated, neither does the Vento or even the Rapid (newer one).

The Honda City has become one tin can.. the build quality and sheet metal being no better than the Ciaz's.

Jeep Compass and any car that I actually liked are all beyond 20 lacs and that's a huge sum to pledge for a car, at least at this point for me.

I see a lateral upgrade to be they way ahead.. trying to find a used one would be difficult but will give me a chance to get more for a C2 sedan's money.

Reviving this thread. Realized that I haven't updated this since the last 2 years.

The Fiesta is doing just great.

On 10/6/2016 at 4:01 PM, neerajd said:

The result wasn't satisfactory at all. But I know the problem lies in the front disc pads

Update around this ^^ - It were the tires and not the brake pads. Got them changed at 36000 kms on the odo. The Goodyear GT3 are told to be notorious and go out of shape pretty soon. There was no warranty left on it by the time I realized they were bad.

Have changed to Michelin XM2+ and the ride has changed drastically.. for the better. The vibrations are gone. It's like a new ride again.

The car is so cost effective to maintain!! ~4.5k at max a year, this is cheaper than almost any new car.

The launch of the Jeep Compass had me thinking but then I've decided to hold back on this for the life of the car. Another 3 years for sure.

BTW, Year 2017, I did a road trip to Mysuru, Ooty and back to Pune. A total of 2400 kms in 9 days. I'll start writing a nice travelogue on that soon.

The car was filled to the brim. Me, my wife, 2 ½year old son, my sister and her husband & luggage for all of us.

The Honda Amaze may have 420 ltr of boot space - similar to that of my car here. But it sure does not swallow that much amount of luggage that could fit in the Fiesta.

On money spent other than maintenance, my Fiesta had a repainted front bumper recently. genuinely my fault. I halted at the parking at a mall when I had been to test drive the Jeep Compass. Talking on the phone with my wife who wasn't really happy with me at the Jeep showroom, I pulled the handbrake and let go of the clutch. Then BANG!!!

The car was in first and as I let go the clutch, it jilted forward. I managed to brake it but it had touched the rough wall of the parking ahead of me. Most of the brunt was taken by the number plate. But the bumper also had a few dimples. No snaps of that actually.

So I got it repainted. But apart from that, there have been no additional expenses other than regular oil and oil filter change.

Such a lovely, no nonsense car really. It makes me wonder why the new age cars really run bills upwards 12-15k for regular yearly servicing.

Average has been steady at 17-18 kmpl and the car has done mostly city runs so far. This is with 0 luggage and 2-3 on board.

A tank-full generally runs for 750-800 kms and refills ~45 liters of diesel.

A couple of recent Mahabaleshwar runs gave me ~20 kmpl because of the long open stretches. This figure with minimum 3 on board with their luggage.

Again a long time no ownership update from me. I had decided to keep this as up-to-date as possible so sometime at a later stage, I can peek into this thread to see how the car gave me company

A bit late, but here I am with another update...

Like I mentioned, due to a job change a year and a half ago, my daily runs were just about 25 kms to-fro. Wasn't really doing justice to my decision of buying a diesel (Oh! the 1.6 petrol would have been so much fun to toss around!!!) But twist in the story here - my previous company offered me a better role and I'll be again looking at some gruesome traffic and a total of 50 kms to-fro. Considering the traffic, the diesel wins here. The new job starts July. So here's to "no-regrets-buying-a-diesel" Cheers!

4th service was just done a couple days ago. Although the car has clocked only 23000 kms, the service due was for 40,000 kms.

The mandatory things to be done and my insistence on the brakes being weak took the bill to Rs. 5300 including the inspection charges of Rs. 800 for the brakes Too much money for just inspection and cleaning of drums etc.

The result wasn't satisfactory at all. But I know the problem lies in the front disc pads. Ford has made their OE very hard to last longer and it grips too less as it starts getting worn out. Will change it to Bosch pads soon. Team-BHP is full of such information.. I so love it.

Planning a trip to Goa next weekend. So the wiper blades are going to be new too. Already bought them off from Amazon at a steal deal of Rs. 320. The new disc pads should inspire on the long drive too.

All in all, no mechanical issues raised by the car yet - touch wood. Although the AFSS team mentions to change the AC filter once in a year, I've found that changing it every 6 months is way better. You may attribute it to the fact that our surroundings are too dusty and that I always drive with AC on.

The low kms that I did for the past 1 year have returned me an average of about 16-17 kmpl in the city. This should improve now since my daily runs are going to increase.

Looking at the same 18-20 kmpl range I used to get a year and a half earlier.

For now, looking forward to the Goa trip more than anything else. It should be lovely to drive there in rains.

Agree. but sometimes you don't buy the car because you need it. It is for pure pleasure and only because you can afford it.

Ask me if i need this car - the answer is NO. Am I buying it for the heck of it - YES.

It's mainly because this is the age I would buy such kind of car. I CAN buy it. The only time in the next few years I buy such a car would be for my son.

I know this is going to cost me about 20k a month (EMI, Fuel & Servicing etc.) to keep this car. Which is a considerable amount of money. But it would give me a sense of satisfaction to have such a car to drive. Somewhere adds to your happiness quotient.

@Hari, thats for the manual. The TSI comes with an automatic gear. So slotting into R/D is very easy.

The car averages about 9-11 kmpl in city and could go well beyond 15 kmpl on highways. City average can go upto 13 if driven sedately.

Coming to monthly spends, I wouldn't mind that amount since this is not the primary car. My daily ride is a Fiesta diesel. Gives me good average. The TSI will be mostly used over weekends or fun drives. I loved the dynamics of the car. It handles triple digits with easy. The pick-up and performance was just thrilling.

I had decided to shift my focus to the Baleno and Jazz automatic. Baleno has a 28 week waiting! That's more than 7 months!.. does not make sense at all. Jazz goes terribly close to the Polo category and isn't fun to drive at all. Even with those paddle shifters.

So in all, it boils down to the TSI again. Paying 10.35 lacs for a hot-hatch is a little undigested. It is a lot of money for the car you are getting. Now, not all know that the heart is different and about the super-slick gearbox. I think I might just bite the bullet and buy this car. I had booked one at 9.85 lacs and cancelled it. The price has now gone up by about 50k. But there are additional features like rain sensing wipers, auto-dimming IRVM and touch screen audio that I would get.

Lets see. Too much confusion and the guilt feeling of a typical middle class mind creeps in with what-if questions like I could really use that money to clear off my house loan or I can really save up that amount and have great vacations each year etc.

Saw this on the roads a few times and it definitely is a head turner. You don't mistake this for some other car easily.

"Cute" or "Nice" are the words you say unknowingly. It's dimensions are definitely around Celerio but it has much better road presence.

I would like to test drive it to know how it really works. What is weird though that they have made a new revotron 3 cyl 1.2 engine when they had a 4 cyl one in the Bolt. Team BHP reviews are very average for the petrol unit but okay-good for the diesel.

Their design and production team have delivered a good car. Now up to the sales and marketing team to sell it well and the after sales team to keep up with the changed image.

Very less seems to be happening around the after sales issues. Car not being looked after well, shoddy job of changing oil and filters, customer issues not being addressed are very common comments I hear from friends who have Tata cars. Most have shifted to known local mechanics to get the job done. Tata should try to target this area as an immediate improvement area and ensure that there is an image uplift here.

Tiago definitely seems to be a good car. But it is the after sales that can script the story for good or worse now.

This would be the same DSG in VWs correct? I was actually planning to save up for the Polo TSI. Although I haven't come across articles where problems specific to DSG are discussed, I know it is overall a very difficult brand to maintain. Both Skoda and VW.

I test drove the Polo TSI and was absolutely in love with the car. The way it drove, gathered speed, braked and esp. how it behaved in the S mode.

When I was in the market for a second dlesel sedan, there was an edition of Rapid retailing for 8.99 with all features I was looking for. ABS, Airbags and a fuel efficient diesel engine. Did I go for it - NO.

The only reason being the scary after sales service and exorbitant costs of maintenance.

One of my relatives sold his Skoda Octavia about 4 yrs ago (it was only about 3-4 yrs old then) only because of the service experiences. They were becoming a very costly affair with numerous problems cropping up every now and then. And mind you, this is for a well kept, serviced within the intervals car. He switched to a Honda City and is very happy with the purchase now.

Hi Monoclonal, sorry for the disappointment. I test drive the Figo a few days ago and I found it to be extremely pathetic (I may be exaggerating a bit here) for what you get for a good 8.58 lacs on road.

I would absolutely not put my money for a car that steeply priced and the kind of plastic and build quality you get. Ford's cost cutting measures are pretty evident.

To start with, the door panels get sucked in as you close the window... and pump out a bit when you roll the window down.. this does not even happen on my Swift. No soft cushions on the doorpads, the stalks are definitely of cheap quality. In fact, my Fiesta Classic is a way better built car that way!

The aesthetics are sure better than my Fiesta, I agree. But overall, the drive was not that engaging. There was quite a bit of delay to change gears in the D mode and it was quite sluggish. For a car that had only 243 kms on the odo, it felt an absolute let down.

Doors did not close with that solid thunk that we know of Fords. I felt pretty sad actually after experiencing what that car drove like and I was able to give a solid answer on my consideration towards the car. A solid NO.

There is no other car that comes as close to the TSI in terms of the smoothness of the ride and gears. A lot expensive than any on offer, but I think its absolutely worth it.

I will also consider the Jazz now since that's the only car otherwise I would say I would consider. But reading a lot of first reviews and people experiences here and on T-BHP in terms of the flimsy build quality and thin steels etc., I don't know if I would be able to give it an unbiased look.

Yes Sachin. If I go for a VW, I will be going in for the extended warranty for sure.

Will be test driving the Figo automatic today. Would be a couple lacs cheaper and their guarantee of 10 yrs on their gear box makes things interesting. It is also a couple lacs cheaper than the VW. Wouldn't mind looking at it if there are discounts running which might make it a sweeter deal.

TSI is more for the heart. Figo may be a sensible one to look at. Lets see.

But I don't completely agree with regards to uncertainty of the brand altogether. I agree, they don't have the best of AFSS; but I've known people with good testaments. Of course, the service costs are going to be a bit higher than what we are used to, but I don't see why one should not try a good product. The engine and the gearbox are a gem together. Not sure if I can get a similar thing out of a Maruti or a Honda. Jazz has become flimsy.. probably even matching Maruti's build quality lately. Ironically, Marutis squeak a lot less than they originally used to..

Unless, the Baleno comes with the 1.0 turbo petrol with an autobox. Unlikely, me thinks.

I took the test drive of the Polo TSI and was absolutely smitten by the car. Only thing is, the budget does not permit me to commit to this car at this time.

Also, I took a long look at the Swift standing in my garage. There is no other car than the Polo TSI which can take its place. The WagonR and Celerio will be a complete step down from what I have right now. And I feel if I'm to change cars it should only be an upgrade.

So, putting off the thought to buy a new car at this point. Will wait for a while to build up a little corpus to buy the TSI. Or maybe any other car worthy to be considered during the time I enter the market again.

I wouldn't mind giving it a look, Sachin. But I'm not sure why these companies decide to equip either the diesel or petrol models with AMT and not both. Typical case with the Swift Dzire to give AMT only on the ZDi variant. Now come on, your Alto, Celerio and WagonR have the same AMT actuators!! Similar case with the Zest. They have an AMT on the diesel but not on Petrol.. and moreover no AMT on the Bolt.

I would have seriously had another car to consider here if the Bolt was equipped with one.

Anyway, I'm really not happy with either the WagonR or the Celerio in terms of what they offer for the money. Might just have to consider increasing my budget to get a better car, it seems.

@librankur, if I have the budget, I will just go for either the Figo AT or the Polo TSI. Having a Fiesta at home, I'm not really looking for another 3 box and definitely not a pretentious one

Took a test drive today of the Polo TSI and man that gearbox is just so amazing.. Drives brilliant. Overall a solidly built car with great gadgetry as well. The only downside is the budget - about 9.75 lacs on road. This is almost twice the amount I plan to spend for a replacement.

I might just have to take a decision soon. Cuz the new upgraded one comes with unnecessary additions - Rain sensing wipers and a touch-screen audio along with auto dimming internal mirrors. This increases the cost by about 50k. There is one Flash Red in stock with a dealer I inquired. Lets see. Not really getting the push from within to buy a car this expensive.

On the other hand, I can always wait for padwa offers for a Maruti and I know there will be plenty

The Figo AT goes way beyond 8 lacs on road and that's quite expensive for me at this moment. The Ford is definitely a better car than any in terms of looks and handling with the overall package. But the price is a deciding factor here.

The Brio was into consideration, but reading reviews on team-bhp - people have mentioned average in single digits. That'll be too expensive a car to own and maintain too.

I kept an eye on the Celerio and WagonR on my way to office today and found the Celerio to be a better looking car overall with good dynamics and road manners. Was able to spot these cars in almost every color too